Friday, January 26, 2007

3 weeks no post....very bad!

So this is really bad that I haven't updated because I haven't been working, been travelling everywhere and still didn't find the time to sit down with the trusty iBook and type a bit more about me. Pretty lazy I guess. But in reality I have been terribly busy cramming as much in during the weeks as possible.

So as most of you know I arrived in London in enough time for New Years Eve. Tracey and I got up to silly shenanigans, but had a great time. Ms Bravo has done a fabulous job of entertaining me, showing me the sights and being an over all good time! She is off to Australia today and very strangely we will only just miss each other there. I have a few more things to see in London.

So here are some photos from London thus far.

Tracey and I on New Years EveThis is me near Big BenThis is the London Eye which I still haven't been on, but Dawn promises we will soon!This is me at the Covent Garden Market still decorated for Christmas a bit which was lovely.This is a photo of a hilarious thing I saw shopping in London. This Jesus is like a Magic 8 Ball. Flip him upside down after asking him a question and he can tell you all the answers! I almost bought it but it was just too big to fit with the rest of my gear.And my favourite photo. Me at Portabello Road! Portabello Road is quite famous in America because of the kids film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. My parents had been there so I wanted to go as well. Dawn and I got some good bargains and even had relatively good weather! I still have several plans for London. Philby arrives tomorrow night! We are going to York to see JT and the boys at Stage One. We have tickets to see Mary Poppins the musical with Dawn and Michael Topple. Then on Tuesday we will head to Brighton for the day. On the weekend following Philby's visit, Dawn and I are staying in a mansion in Bath. That should be fantastic. Am really looking forward to it. Then on the 4th of Feb Valie arrives! Everyone's favourite Greek! I can't wait. We are planning on shopping a lot so it should be great. I still have plenty more shows to see. So hopefully I will get to a few more.

Then a bit of exciting news, I am heading back to Australia on the 13th February. I have to stay one night in Bahrain and then I land in Sydney on the 15th Feb. Heading straight to Tassie for Mackonis' wedding, but will return to Sydney after the weekend. Will be in Sydney for a while, but will definitely be heading down to Melbourne. I haven't decided where to stay, but I have applied for jobs in both places. Missing Australia a bit now, so as soon as I cram as much London in as possible, I will be on my way home. Probably needing places to stay initially so if anyone has a spare room, give me a shout - in either place! Alycia, do we have somewhere to stay the night before we go to Tassie??? Ahh! I certainly hope so!

So last week I went to Copenhagen and Oslo. Looking forward to some snow so heading to Scandanavia sounded like the best plan. Stayed with my friends Karina and Klavs in Copenhagen with the 2 gorgeous children Mione and Milton. I spent 3 days in Copenhagen hanging out then Karina and I took the Ferry to Oslo to see Stian (our foreign exchange student from my high school days) and his family. Here are some photos:

Me and Mione (she is named after Hermione from Harry Potter!)This is Milton in his brand new Tigger robe I brought from LondonThis is the Royal Copenhagen Theatre on the leftThis is called Nyhavn Canal. It use to have lots of prostitutes and drugs, but it has recently been cleaned up. It was absolutely stunning even in the rain! This is the entrance to Tivoli which is their amusement park which opened in 1843. Closed in winter unfortunately!Here are Mione and me playing in the snow. It kind of followed us back from Oslo where it absolutely bucketed down.Oh and this one is for all you guys from Doha. They actually had a Shawarma shop in Copenhagen. Apparently they eat them all the time!

So Karina and I went on the overnight ferry ride to Oslo on a Thursday night and came back on Sunday night. We spent the Friday with Stian and his family which as lovely. We had dinner and plenty of schnapps. I was a bit too drunk but it did help the conversation which was actually in 3 languages! It was crazy. Stian's neice is 8 years old and showed me her little writing book of English. I wish I learned another language so young! Stian took us out on Friday night (as if we needed more alcohol!) and we saw his apartment outside Oslo. Mom and Dad you will be proud - he has a mortgage! The only one of your lovely children.

The next couple of days Karina and I spent in Oslo city just seeing the sights and taking in all of the snow. We went to Ibsen's house (for those of you who aren't aware he is a very famous Norwegian playwright). We also saw the National Theatre, Parliament, the Town Hall, the Royal Palace, the National Gallery and the History Museum. We actually saw quite a bit in 2 days! Here are a few of the highlights:

Me on the boat in Oslo Harbour. (Yes that is a Danish flag! Oh well)Me in the bucketing snowThe Royal PalaceThe National Theatre in OsloSo now I am back in London at Dawn's house. Apparently it snowed here the day I got back but when I landed at 5pm there wasn't even a sign of it anywhere. Now its sunny and kind of cold, but still not very typical for this time of year. It should be colder! It was good to see the snow but I am very much looking forward to having a bit of sun in Australia! I will be back for good this time, so when I get around the organising some catch up drinks, I will email everyone. And of course I do need a job, so if anyone knows of anything good going, let me know.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone in both Sydney and Melbourne. Can't wait for the Tassie Wedding! Email me what you will be up to around midFeb!

Warm hugs from the cold part of world to you all! Man am I looking forward to bikini weather again!Love,Sarah

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The Magical Mystery Tour Begins...

So I have finally left Doha for good. Pretty sure that there won't be anything I will miss, however, I am sure if I owned a car I would miss the cheap petrol. But needless to say I am carless and homeless pretty much so it doesn't really bother me. If only the tube rides were cheaper...

Yes that's right. I arrived in London just in time for New Years Eve which was amazing. Dancing the night away to all my favourite 80s hits with Tracey Bravo and friends. Also spent time with Dawn and her brother's family at a black tie and tiara party in the infamous "had to go to Dubai because the Doha shop burnt down" dress! And this is where London starts...

Let's back track a bit because I am sure you are all dying to see my amazing photos of the Maldives. We arrived on Christmas Day in our very small seaplane which of course freaked me out a bit. We had flown all night so all of us actually fell asleep on the half hour seaplane ride from the airport to our private island. They picked us up in a buggy and drove us to our little houses on poles. So basically for 3 days we sat on the beach, snorkelled, got tan, drank and ate fantastic food. The islands are amazing and flying over them was actually a lot better than I imagined. Here are a few photos from the trip:

Our SeaplaneOur drinks upon arrivalOur houses on poles from the skyThe infamous day bedChristmas Tree Maldivian Style courtesy of AGLaura and I at the bottom of my stepsDinner one nightAll of us girls lounging near the daybedThe Snorkelling Bond Girl...heheheOverall it was pretty amazing. I highly recommend it. And family, LOOK OUT, I think this is where I pick to go for my 30th Birthday trip. It was sensational. And it only sprinkled with rain one day for about 20 minutes. Otherwise it was lovely. I am looking mighty tan for the cold and blustery UK folk here. It is great.

Also back tracking a bit more, just before we went to the Maldives, we went on a bit of a 4 wheeling day through the desert. It was me, Amy Wee, Philby, Dawn, Laura and Ben. Basically since there weren't that many people left and most of us bar Philby had never even gone on one before, Amy Wee put her organising hat on and put the trip together in no time. They drove us out really quite far into the desert and it was amazing because for the first time of my entire stay in Doha, I saw something other than plain flat land as far as the eye could see. Sand dunes everywhere. It was fantastic. And camels. I think we were supposed to ride them, but we didn't. So we trekked off in the four wheel drive with an amazing driver who didn't speak very much called Asheraff. He might have been quiet but he sure could drive. We got air on several occasions and absolutely rocked out over the rest of our little caravan of Nissan Patrols. So after a day of dune bashing they cooked us a nice little BBQ arab style and then we headed back into Doha. They have to let the tires down for driving on the sand so after a quick pit stop to fill them back up again, we were on the pavement and sleeping. It was a nice thing to do in Doha before we left. The weather was lovely and we saw a part of Doha that didn't totally suck. Here are a few happy snaps from the day:So arrived in London just fine. Feeling very cold after the Maldives and now as I sit here with my runny nose and sore throat, I remember what winter is actually like. One day at home, then I will be back out on the streets of London, taking photos everywhere! Trying to figure out the tube and the buses, but I ventured out even after just one day and went to see Megan Tidd(Retka) and Aaron Retka for Thai dinner. Pretty cool stuff actually. Getting around here is amazing. Will definitely be off to a few shows, go to Portabello Road like in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, ride on the London Eye and of course see Buckingham Palace. I have already been 2m away from the Queen during the Comm Games though, so now is my chance to have Prince William see me, fall madly in love with me and make me the next princess of England. Ok, actually that would probably suck a lot, but hey, everyone can dream right? Will upload some photos of London when I have a few more actually worth looking at. I have already been to Big Ben, Covent Garden, the London Eye (but not on it), Harrods, the Thames and a few other places. Even had myself a pint and a pub meal. Oh how I missed the pub meals.

I have even had to get more pages put into my passport because there aren't any more places to stamp. This is now the complete list of countries I have now been to (and of course, some are stamped 2 and 3 times depending on the place). There are a total of 42 stamps officially, plus a heap of cancelled visas!